Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Frank Gore has been one of the NFL‘s most consistent and dominant running backs throughout his career, but 2015 will be a bit of a change for him. He has played all eight of his seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, but the two sides decided to go different directions this offseason. The Indianapolis Colts were more than happy to step in and sign him to a three-year contract, and he is going to be asked to fix the only issues their offense has had since Edgerrin James left.
While there are some who are skeptical about the move, Gore is going to end up being exactly the fit that the Colts have been needing.
Indianapolis had the top passing offense in the NFL last season due to the leadership of star quarterback Andrew Luck. While having a dynamic aerial attack is extremely important, the Colts didn’t have any type of a ground game to support him. That has been an issue since back when Peyton Manning was still under center for the Colts, and they needed to figure something out.
Last season with the 49ers, Gore ended up carrying the football 255 times for 1,106 yards and four touchdowns. It wasn’t his best statistical season, but it was still solid and it is the type of year that the Colts need from him.
At 31 years of age, quite a few Colts fans are concerned about whether or not he will be able to be the difference maker that the Colts need. What those fans are missing, however, is that the Colts don’t need Gore to be a workhorse running back. All they need from Gore is to be a consistent presence like he was last season, with both Dan Herron and either Vick Ballard or Josh Robinson taking a few carries off of his shoulders as well.
In addition to being a very consistent running back, Gore’s ability to block for his quarterback has gone under the radar. He is one of the best pass blockers at the running back position in the entire NFL. That will come in handy for the Colts, and more protection is something that Luck desperately needs.
There weren’t huge needs for the Colts to go out and bring in star power this offseason. Ryan Grigson decided to go all out to bring in players who would put them in the best position to win a Super Bowl this year. Luck and the Colts are without question one of the favorites to win a championship this season.
Gore may not be as flashy of a pickup as Adrian Peterson or DeMarco Murray, but he is going to be more than capable of handling the role that the Colts will give him.
Pep Hamilton hasn’t had this type of an offense throughout his entire career, and it is going to be very interesting to see what type of numbers it puts up in 2015. The Colts have all of the talent in the world to make something special happen, and Gore is going to be the missing piece that they have been searching for. Whether they will end up winning a title or not, he will be a very important piece for them over the next few seasons.
Evan Massey is the Green Bay Packers beat writer for www.RantSports.com, and also contributes across the NFL, MLB and NBA portions of the site. Follow him on Twitter at @Massey_Evan and like him on Facebook.
